Students look on as Mr. Moody gets on top of the roof for a day. He received the most pennies in the Pennies for Patients fundraiser that the school held recently to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Westfield Principal gets sent to the roof!Mr. Moody makes good on promise in Pennies for Patients fundraiser

By Keri Solis
When Pioneer Westfield Jr./Sr. High School Principal David Moody said he would go up on the roof if his bucket collected the most money in the Pennies for Patients drive held in February, students didn’t hesitate to start filling it.

Pennies for Patients is a fundraiser that the school has been holding for several years to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Several fundraisers were held, including selling root beer and orange soda floats, carnations for Valentine’s Day, serving pizza at the Pizza Ranch and a cake silent auction.

Getting back to how Moody ended up on the roof, there were several staff members who made crazy promises to the students if their buckets collected the most money. Mr. Gildenzoph said he would get his ears pierced, Mr. Smalley, Mr. Jansky, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Rugg were willing to put together a boy band act, and Ms. Darr said she would wear a cow costume and take a pie to the face.
Once all of the money was counted, Moody had over $400 more in his bucket than his closest competitor. Overall, the students raised $1675 in donations.

On Tuesday, March 12, after a hearty welcome by the pep band, Casey Witkowski of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society accepted the check at a student assembly and sent Moody off to the roof. According to Witkowski, the money is used for patient aid and financial assistance to help pay for things such as travel and hotel stays while receiving treatment.

Moody was proud of the students for their efforts in raising money, stating, “It was a lot of hard work. The kids stepped up and raised a lot of money. I have the easy job. “

Moody was all smiles as he headed up the ladder to the portable ice shack on the roof that gave him some protection from the wind and cold from the overcast sky. While he was fine for the first couple hours, he later reported, “It got cold at the end. The heater wasn’t keeping up!”